Buy a 2nd hand desktop gaming pc on craigslist for like $400

I did this twice recently for 2 family members and they worked out fantastically.

Buying a desktop new is a total waste of money. They devalue like crazy, but also last forever and keep running fine forever basically.

You could nerd out comparing specs and benchmarks of the hardware in each machine.. or much simpler just ask the current owner which games it can play ok. If it can play any AAA game from last 6 years (eg. witcher 3) ok on normal graphics then it will pretty much play anything.


With that you can play.
1. All the awesome mindblowing modern mods, total conversions etc. for old pc games, like doom, quake, tie fighter etc.
2. The best games ever made, like high art games: Random contemporary games made by mad people on itch.io
3. Every console game from every era excluding only the most recent consoles, via emulator
4. AAA games if ure into that, there are a few good ones, like witcher 3, MGS5, prey, dishonored

If you havent played games in ages, I would recommend these as the best games ever made, and the ones that should be on top of your list to try...

Minecraft
Kerbal space program
Outer Wilds
Factorio

Look on your local craigslist/marketplace/kijiji or whatever for a used console with some games you've heard of and want to play. Don't spend more than what seems reasonable, lots of sellers think their "vintage" stained console is worth a ton; it probably isn't. The more famous a title, the more it probably sold, and the cheaper it should be. Rare games are the obscure ones nobody bought.

PlayStation 2 is probably a good choice because it can also play original PlayStation games and there is a huge game library, costs are low for bundles of games.

I personally like the Nintendo 64. I kept mine since I was a kid. The game library is quite limited.

Don't get carried away with video quality snobbery, but a free/cheap quality used CRT TV with the native input from the console you picked is not a bad idea. Older consoles on modern TVs can look terrible because they don't digitize the analog signal very well. My N64 looks pretty good on a 13" Sony CRT with an S-video cable.

If you got money to spend on full price games, a Nintendo switch would be a good affordable purchase. (If you can get) Xbox with gamepass subscription is also good because gamepass just lets you play a ton of different games for a monthly subscription.

If you really don’t have a PC then get that so you have a PC and can play some games on it (also can use Xbox game pass to play PC games).

But consoles are the easiest way to play a fairly wide variety of games

Well this device obviously

^^^^ Meant to be 2nd reply to mothership

And regarding console advantages, you can't even play on a couch with a friend in the same room anymore! I can't remember the last exclusive Xbox/PS game that supported local multi-player.

Jesus, PCs are better for even local multiplayer now.

I mean, you could do a console “lan party” same as you have to do with PCs. Less hassle transporting as well.